Wireless digital networks, such as networks operating under the current Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards, are spreading in their popularity and availability. In a wireless local area network (WLAN) deployment, a number of clients can be connected to the same wireless network via one or more access points. The number and type of smart phones, tablets, laptops and other clients that connect to WLANs continues to rise as new generations of clients hit the market. Such diverse clients with different operating systems and WLAN chipsets often result in a variety of connection speeds, roaming behaviors, band preferences, and other capabilities.
The ClientMatch™ technology from Aruba Networks© is able to match a client's capabilities to an optimal access point in a wireless network based on signal strength levels, loads of access points in the wireless network, etc., and to steer a client to the access point that will offer the best performance for the client.
Nevertheless, even with ClientMatch™ technology, different clients connecting to the same access point often have different radio behaviors and capabilities. For example, some clients may be legacy clients, whereas other clients may be compatible with IEEE 802.11ac standards. Some clients may have beamforming capabilities, whereas other clients may not have beamforming capabilities. Some clients may be enabled for power saving capabilities, whereas other clients may not be enabled for power saving capabilities. Therefore, it would be desirable to apply different service mechanisms to different groups of clients having different radio behaviors and/or capabilities.